Luigi Mangione pleads guilty in federal case over killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson

Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty on Friday in the federal case stemming from the December 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson in New York City. Mangione admitted in court that he shot Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel on 4 December 2024. His federal case initially included more serious charges, including murder, but those charges were later dismissed. The remaining federal case centered on stalking offenses.

During a hastily scheduled 45-minute hearing, Mangione directly acknowledged his role in Thompson’s death. “I shot Mr Thompson in Manhattan and he died,” Mangione said towards the end of the hearing. He also told the court: “I knew what I was doing was illegal”. Mangione did not say that his actions were wrong and did not express regret for the killing. US District Judge Margaret Garnett scheduled Mangione’s sentencing for 18 December. His federal trial had been scheduled to begin next month, but the guilty plea means that trial will no longer take place. Prosecutors said they would seek life imprisonment.

A separate state murder case against Mangione remains pending. Manhattan prosecutors have charged him with murder and weapons offenses, with his state trial currently scheduled to begin on 8 September. Mangione had previously pleaded not guilty in both federal and state proceedings. Shortly after the federal guilty plea, Mangione’s defense attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said she had filed a motion seeking dismissal of the state murder case. The move could have significant consequences for the upcoming state proceedings because of New York’s constitutional protections against double jeopardy.

Mangione describes planning and killing

During Friday’s hearing, Mangione gave the court an account of events leading up to Thompson’s killing. He said that after years of dealing with severe back pain and a broken back, as well as difficulties navigating the US healthcare system, he learned that UnitedHealthcare was scheduled to hold its annual investor conference in New York in December 2024. The conference location was not publicly available, Mangione said, so he contacted UnitedHealthcare executives while posing as an institutional investor. According to his account, he received a response within an hour and subsequently researched the people expected to attend the event.

Mangione then described obtaining and preparing a firearm. He said he printed a gun using a 3-D printer and attached a silencer before traveling to New York. “I shot Mr Thompson in Manhattan and he died,” he said. “When I did so, I understood that my actions would place him in fear of death or serious bodily injury. I knew what I was doing was illegal.” Judge Garnett had earlier determined that Mangione was mentally and physically fit to enter his plea. She then went through a series of questions with him to establish that his decision was voluntary and that he understood the consequences.

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Thompson’s family attends hearing

Members of Brian Thompson’s family attended the hearing, including his widow, Paulette Thompson. Relatives sat in the front row as Mangione described shooting Thompson on a busy Manhattan sidewalk. Some family members became visibly emotional during his statements. Paulette Thompson was seen breathing heavily and holding tightly to the arm of a loved one, while other relatives held hands.

The presence of Thompson’s family was notable because federal plea proceedings involving a victim’s family can involve their agreement when a negotiated resolution is being considered. Federal prosecutor Jamie McDonald told the court that prosecutors would seek a sentence of life imprisonment.

State murder case faces uncertainty

Mangione’s federal guilty plea came only weeks before his scheduled state murder trial, potentially creating a major legal challenge for Manhattan prosecutors. New York’s double jeopardy protections generally prevent a person from being prosecuted twice for the same offense. State law also addresses separate prosecutions arising from the same act or criminal transaction, although those provisions contain exceptions.

A New York appeals court has previously considered the scope of those protections, leaving the precise effect of Mangione’s federal plea on the state case to be determined. Mangione’s defense moved quickly following Friday’s hearing, filing a motion to dismiss the state murder prosecution. The state case includes murder and weapons charges and is currently scheduled for trial on 8 September.

Federal death penalty bid had already been rejected

The federal case had previously attracted significant attention because former US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that prosecutors would seek the death penalty. Bondi described Thompson’s killing as a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America” and said the decision was consistent with “Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again”. However, Judge Garnett later dismissed two of the four counts in Mangione’s federal indictment, including the death-penalty-eligible murder charge involving a firearm.

In a 30 January ruling, Garnett said US Supreme Court precedents made the federal murder charge incompatible with the stalking charges. “This case will proceed to trial on counts one and two, which charge the defendant with causing Brian Thompson’s death under two federal stalking laws,” Garnett said in her order. “The potential maximum punishment for each of those offenses is life in prison without parole.

“Consequently, the chief practical effect of the legal infirmities of counts three and four, and this court’s decision that they must be dismissed, is solely to foreclose the death penalty as an available punishment to be considered by the jury that will otherwise determine, at trial, whether to convict the defendant for causing Brian Thompson’s death,” Garnett had said.

Mangione case draws international attention

Mangione, who was born in Maryland and is 28, was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on 9 December 2024 following a nationwide manhunt for Thompson’s killer. His arrest and subsequent prosecution generated intense international attention. The case also became a focal point for public anger and debate over the US healthcare system, particularly criticism of the country's for-profit healthcare model. Mangione has gained a devoted following online, with some supporters portraying him as a folk hero and referring to themselves as “Mangionistas”.

There were fewer supporters outside the courthouse on Friday than during some of Mangione’s earlier appearances.

Mangione pleaded not guilty to the federal charges in April 2025. His decision to change his plea came after days of speculation that the federal proceedings could be resolved without a trial. The guilty plea now eliminates the federal trial that had been expected to begin next month, while leaving the future of the separate New York state murder case uncertain.